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The Revolutionary War

Before I get into the Revolutionary War, I want to skim what happened during the Road to Revolution to refresh our memories. First the British fought in the French and Indian War to make more land for the Americans. The British won the French and Indian War, and told the Americans to go to the new land and make new colonies there. The Americans did as told, but were soon attacked by an army of furious Indians who wanted their land back. The Americans were forced to go back to their original colonies.

The French and Indian War was very expensive for the British, so the British began to tax the Americans. The Americans did not like being taxed, particularly because they had no say in being taxed at all!

Next, the British made an Act saying that the Americans could only buy goods from England. The Americans did not want to accept this new law because the British had high prices for their goods and the Americans were unnecessarily taxed when the goods were shipped to the markets. The Americans obviously did not want to buy from the British, so they began to smuggle goods from other places such as India and France.

When the British discovered that the Americans were smuggling goods into America, they made a new law that declared the British soldiers were allowed to search houses, stores, ships, and all property owned by the Americans to check for smuggled goods.

Then came the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act, in my opinion, was unnecessary because the only thing it did was require that stamps were put onto paper things; however, it was an easy way to make a quick buck. It required stamps on paper things such as newspapers, calendars, playing cards, mail, wills, and many other things that really didn’t need a stamp.

The next ridiculous Act that the British made was an Act that made it so the ignorant British soldiers could live on the Americans’ property for free. The Americans were furious because not only were the British taking all of their liberties, but now they were allowed to live and defile the Americans’ own property; this was just not fair to the Americans at all!

The Americans began to protest mostly about taxes, and in some colonies such as Boston, riots began. The Americans had had about enough of the British’s unnecessary laws. The Americans thought that the British might loosen their grip a little, but the next British Act was similar to the previous ones and gave the British too much control.

The Americans felt as though the British had won if they were in a war, but then it hit them…THIS MEANT WAR!

Let The War Begin!

Fighting began between the British and Americans, and after a few months of the constant tension a gunshot was fired by an unknown minute man; this gunshot is known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” The Shot Heard ‘Round the World is important because this shot began the Revolutionary War.

The Revolutionary War was terrible for each side fighting; even people off the streets were fighting now and so many people were killed.

George Washington had his own militia that was small compared to the British army, so the British won many battles and gained many colonies that used to be owned by the Americans.The Americans won some battles for the colonies but not many…at first.

Benjamin Franklin was asked to go to the French and ask them to join the Americans in war.Franklin tried to get the French to join them in the war, but French were hesitant to join because they were not sure they would be able to win. Meanwhile in the war, an American militia took down a very high and tough British General; when news of this exciting event reached the French, the French knew that they could beat the British in the war.

The French also had lost to the British in the French and Indian War so they had great ambition to beat the greedy, overbearing British in this war. They viewed it as a second chance to beat the British, and the French promised the Americans to stick by their side in the war and supply them with plenty of weapons, clothes, food, and supplies needed for the war.

On the 26th of December, Washington’s now-growing militia surprised the British by taking some of the German soldiers that had joined with the British. The British did not lift a finger to take back or exchange the German soldiers that were taken by surprise. The British did not care if those soldiers were killed by the Americans, the British just wanted to win the war and make money.

The war dragged on and it was now back and forth winning and losing because sometimes the Americans would win, but the British were just the same, so it they were really neck-and-neck. Finally, the British armies began to shrink as more and more British soldiers were killed; the Americans were starting to be how the British were at the begging of the war, plus their army was growing in size every day, as more men volunteered to fight in the war. The Americans were doing amazing and not giving up hope, and it looked as though at any second they would win, but then the British took over the colonies’ capital! The Americans and the French were so close to beating the British that they could almost feel the feeling of victory rubbing against their skin. Finally, the last (what was at this point just a very small) British militia retreated and that meant that the Americans had won the war!

Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the declaration of independence with a few changes and suggestions from others. The Declaration of Independence made all the difference in America. That document separates America from England, and it meant that the Americans were free from British rule forever.